Monday 27 November 2017

Fundamentalists Launch Christmas Boycott Of Target For Transgender Policy



A Christian fundamentalist group, 2nd Vote, has renewed the boycott of Target this week, citing the companies policies of tolerance and acceptance of the transgender community.

A member of the group, Lance Wray, spoke to the Christian Post to say, 'Despite the impact to their bottom line, Target continues to champion the left's radical agenda. Not only does Target contribute financially to liberal activists, but its dangerous policy of allowing men into women's restrooms and bathroom facilities remain in place.

'Let's continue holding Target accountable for it's left-wing Activism! Our #AnywhereButTARGET campaign continues this Christmas shopping season and we need your help spreading the word.'

A video on the groups website has claimed that the boycott of Target has led to a loss of profits for the company of 43%, and the stock being down 30%.

However, financial and business experts have said that these difficulties have been down to competitors and online shopping.


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Katie Hopkins Leaves Daily Mail Days After Attending Far Right Hate Group



The controversial columnist and former radio presenter Katie Hopkins has left the tabloid The Daily Mail days after footage emerged of her giving an anti-Muslim speech at a far right meeting in Florida.

Hopkins has been no stranger to stirring up hate in the past, having been criticised for her stance on multiple subjects, including having recently called for a 'final solution' for the Muslim community.

After footage emerged of Hopkins speaking at an event organised by David Horowitz Freedom Centre, an American far right think-tank and anti-Muslim organisation.

During the speech Hopkins told the audience that it was 'our time', and encouraged those in attendance to arm themselves with 'the help of the NRA'. She also went on to tell them that she had been reported to the police for hate crimes and inciting violence, before going on to tell them that parts of the UK were run by 'Muslim mafia', and that there is 'institutionalised discrimination against whites' across Britain.

Today, a Daily Mail spokesperson said that Hopkins' employment with them had been 'ended by mutual consent'. This follows Hopkins losing her position at the radio station LBC in May for a tweet that called for Muslim deaths.

Interestingly, Hopkins also appears to have deleted all of her tweets on the social media site Twitter.


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Star Wars: Rebels ‘In The Name of The Rebellion Part 2’ Review



Originally published on Set The Tape

The second part of ‘In The Name of The Rebellion’, the story moves away from the collective Ghost crew to focus on Ezra (Taylor Gray) and Sabine (Tiya Sircar) as they learn more about the mysterious project the Empire is working on, as well as the true lengths that Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) is willing to go to.

Whilst the first part of this story lacked a great deal of bang, the second half of the story manages to pack in action, intrigue, and tension as it forces the youngest members of the Ghost crew to infiltrate an Imperial shipment containing a deadly cargo; a giant Kyber Crystal. I knew going into the second part of this story that we would be getting some connections to Rogue One, Saw’s presence guaranteed this, but I wasn’t expecting it to cram in Kyber Crystals, kidnapped scientists, Death Troopers, and the mention of Krennic (played in Rogue One by Ben Mendelson).

With the first part of the story focusing so closely on the inner workings of the Rebellion it was a genuine surprise that the second part didn’t follow the same course. Whilst it would have been possible for Ezra to see how dark a path Saw was travelling by having them perform any kind of mission against the Empire, connecting it back into Saw’s ongoing story was an inspired choice.

How far you’re willing to go to achieve your ends became an important question in this episode, with Ezra and Sabine trying to rescue the captured scientists, but Saw willing to let them all die to deliver a blow to the Empire. From here on out I don’t see Ezra really questioning the methods of the Rebellion again, or at least not in the same way he did in the first part of the story. He’s learned what the other side of the fight is willing to do, the lengths that people like Saw are prepared to go to, and it frightens and appals him.


The confines of the Imperial transport also makes for an interesting location for the action of the episode, with firefights in tight confines and dark hallways, and an especially creative sequence where the Rebels take down a squad of Death Troopers in the smoke. The inclusion of the Death Troopers, whilst welcome, led to one jarring moment. In Rogue One the Death Troopers spoke with a strange garbled language, impossible to understand, yet here they were speaking normally, with the squad leader actually developing a personality over the course of the story. Whilst this wasn’t a bad thing in any way, it did throw me out of the episode for a moment as it was so different from Death Troopers we’d seen in the past.

It also struck me this episode how much closer to his film look Saw had developed. He’s not got his breathing problem yet, and still has both legs, so there’s still plenty of room for the series to use him again and explore his descent into near madness. Hopefully he will appear again before the end of the series, especially as his relationship with Ezra will be very different going forward.

A vast improvement on the previous episode, and one that acts as a great second part, yet also manages to work well as a stand alone episode.


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Star Wars Battlefront II: 5 Moments From Star Wars That Would Make Great Games



Originally Published on Set The Tape

The Star Wars saga is filled with iconic moments, some on the big screen, some on television, and others buried deep within the lore and expanded universe. With so much to draw upon, what moments and events could be used for future Star Wars games?


The Siege of Mandalore

The Siege of Mandalore is one of the final battles of the Clone Wars conflict, and was planned as the final story arc of the Clone Wars television series before the show was cancelled.

With the ex-Sith Lord Darth Maul in control of Mandalore via a proxy leader and devoted following within the warrior caste, the Jedi High Council dispatched Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi to take the rogue darksider down. Calling upon the former Jedi Ahsoka Tano for help, she was left to lead the fight against Maul alongside Captain Rex when Skywalker and Kenobi left to save Chancellor Palpatine (the events at the star of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith). Despite coming close to defeating Maul in an all out war between clone troopers and mandalorian soldiers, Ahsoka failed because Palpatine issued Order 66, whereby all of the clone troopers (except for Rex) turned against the former Jedi.

A game based upon The Siege of Mandalore would be able to take advantage of an era that fans are familiar with, but tell a story that still remains largely untold, able to include fan favourite characters like Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex, and Darth Maul.


Lords of the Sith

Set between the events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Rebels, Lords of the Sith tells the story of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader falling victim to a terrorist strike above the planet of Ryloth, forcing the two Sith Lords to fight for survival on the planet’s surface, fighting alien creatures and rebels.

One of the grittier of the new Star Wars canon novels, ‘Lords of the Sith’ gave the two Sith Lords a chance to shine, including Darth Vader destroying fighters in space with the force and his lightsaber, and Palpatine fighting vicious monsters with force lightning and his own rarely seen lightsabre.

A game adaptation of the book could focus on either side of this conflict, or mix the two together, allowing player to tear through opponents as powerful Sith, or fighting impossible odds as resistance fighters.


Twilight Company

Technically a tie in to the Star Wars Battlefront game, the story of Twilight Company is one of the grittiest war stories in the current Star Wars canon, telling the story of the front line fighters as they fight a desperate campaign to cripple the Imperial production across several planets, including a shipyard, a bio weapons facility, and factory worlds.

Because the original Star Wars Battlefront lacked a single player campaign there has been a sad lack of Star Wars first person shooters in recent years, and whilst Star Wars Battlefront 2 is rectifying this, a game that explores the exploits of Twilight Company would be very welcome.


Malachor

The planet of Malachor has appeared a number of time in Star Wars canon throughout the years, most recently in the epic season two finale of Star Wars Rebels. Much of what has occurred on Malachor is still a mystery, but what we do know from Star Wars Rebels is that the planet is a graveyard of Sith and Jedi bodies, and that it holds a massive Sith superweapon.

The lack of information on what actually happened on Malachor could prove to be a benefit for any game creators, allowing them to craft a story around the small pieces of information that we do have. Any game that would allow players to take part in a battle between thousands of force users is sure to be popular.


The Yuuzhan Vong War

The Yuuzahn Vong War is one of the most controversial aspects of the old expanded universe, with fans either loving it or hating it. Set years after the defeat of the Empire, the mysterious Yuuzahn Vong race appeared from beyond the edges of the Star Wars galaxy and invaded known space.

With living ships, vicious soldiers, and the ability to resist The Force, the Yuuzahn Vong tore through the New Republic and Imperial Remnant alike, enslaving and destroying whole world; and even killing beloved character Chewbacca. In the end, an alliance between the New Republic, the Imperial Remnant, and the new Jedi Order were able to defeat the Yuuzahn Vong.

A game set within the old expanded universe would be a brave choice for new properties, but the scope of the Yuuzahn Vong conflict opens a huge number of possibilities, anything from first-person shooter, action adventure, starship simulator, or even real-time strategy.


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Saturday 25 November 2017

Legends of Tomorrow 'Helen Hunt' Review



Why does Victor Garber have to be leaving the series? Watching him get to play at being Franz Drameh was great, and really showed off just how good of an actor he is. Whilst we may be loosing Professor Stein soon, the show is determined to have us enjoy his final episodes.

One of the things that is becoming clearer with this season of Legends of Tomorrow is that the stand alone episodes are starting to build into the larger season long story arc. Whilst the Legends spend much of this episode trying to get a time displaced Helen of Troy (Bar Paly) back to her own place and time, the episode also manages to include appearances from Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough), Kuasa (Tracy Ifeachor), and a now revealed Eleanor Darhk (Courtney Ford).

Whilst we did not learn a great deal more about Mallus (John Noble) or his plans, we actually got character development from our villains, something that is usually missing from the series.
Not only did the Legends and the audience learn that Courtney Ford is in fact the adult daughter of Damien Darhk, last seen in season four of Arrow as a little girl, but Amaya (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) learns that Kuasa is her granddaughter, and the older sister of the modern day Vixen (Megalyn Echikunwoke).


These moments with the bad guys are genuinely entertaining, with Damien Darhk continuing to prove that his return is a good thing for the show, with the moment that he realises that Jax and Stein have switched bodies being a stand out moment. It's interesting that the show has determined that they will be making him as wacky and fun as the regular cast, but it stands him in good contrast against the rest of the bad guys, especially the serious Kuasa.

The villains aside, the only members of the hero team that actually get a chance to develop much are Stein and Jax. Whilst this would normally be a bit of a let down for a show with such a large cast, the fact that we're getting to spend more time with the two of them before Stein leaves for goo is the right choice, and shaking up their dynamic by having them trade places is really fun.

Drameh isn't quite perfect as Stein, he comes across as playing old rather than feeling old, but Garber is superb at capturing his young partners energy. Whilst the developments in their personal relationship is great, getting to see Stein as the physical side of Firestorm is the highlight of the episode.

Stein has been around since as far back as episode twelve of The Flash, and has been a big part of the universe ever since, though often not in the spotlight, yet has never had the chance to participate in a superhero fight himself. The beauty of the body switch is that it's a good way to out him in the driving seat for a change and have him shooting nuclear fire from his hands.

The upcoming departure of Victor Garber is going to be a blow to the series, as this episode showcases, but it's great that the series is giving him these chances to shine before he bows out, whilst also developing their villains and add to the season long story arc. The bonus inclusion of Themyscira as part of Earth-1 is an incredibly exciting Easter-egg; we know that Superman and Batman exist on Earth-19, but the possibility that we many one day see Wonder Woman is hugely exciting.


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Friday 24 November 2017

LEGO Marvel Superheroes 2: Top 5 LEGO games



Originally published on Set The Tape

Everyone likes LEGO, right? Whether it’s fond memories of building your own unique creations as a child, or indulging in buying a fun licensed kit as an adult, you would be hard challenged to find someone that hasn’t enjoyed playing with it at some point. With the massive popularity of LEGO, it’s of little surprise that the LEGO video games have been as popular as they are.

With the November’s release of LEGO Marvel Superheroes 2 looming large, now seems like a good time to look back at the rest of the series and to pick out the top five LEGO games you need to check out.


5. LEGO Dimensions

LEGO Dimensions is an amazing game. The game combines dozens of LEGO universes to give you a game where you can play as Batman, The Doctor, Homer Simpson, and Harry Potter all at the same time.

However, the main downside of this game is the cost. Buying new characters and levels can be very expensive. If you can afford to do so, it easily delivers one of the best LEGO games around that is still expanding. What other game gives you the LEGO version or Red Dwarf and The Goonies?


4. LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham

Despite the name, the third entry in the Batman series is a Justice League game, bringing more characters into the series than ever before. It draws from both the Superman and Green Lantern mythos to deliver a game of galactic proportions that builds on the success of the previous entries in the series.


3. Lego Marvel Superheroes

The original LEGO Marvel Super Heroes game is still one of the best in the LEGO series. With a story that spans the whole Marvel universe and a roster of 150 characters, it gives us one of the best Marvel games around.

The hub world in LEGO Marvel Super Heroes is fantastic, with an entire New York City to adventure around in. You can visit the Baxter Building, Xavier’s School, and Avengers Tower. You can fight against Green Goblin as Cyclops and Captain America. This game combines so many fantastic elements of the Marvel universe to deliver an enjoyable game.


2. LEGO City Undercover

LEGO City Undercover is what would happen if LEGO created their own Grand Theft Auto game, minus the murder, drugs and prostitutes. LEGO City Undercover is easily one of the most enjoyable games in their roster, with some fun and unique features that make this stand out from the crowd.

Playing as an undercover cop, you don’t unlock new characters, but get to change your disguises to allow you to perform different tasks in the hub world. The hub itself is a huge city that takes the best features from real world cities like New York, San Francisco, Miami and Los Angeles.

The game is also full of 70’s and 80’s cop show and action movie references, with Columbo, Dirty Harry, and Starsky and Hutch all making appearances, and my personal favourite being the construction worker who talks like Arnie and makes Schwarzenegger film puns.


1. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga

Could it be anything else? The game that made the series what it is. It’s the oldest game on the list, but it’s still easily one of the best. Letting you play through the first six films of the Star Wars saga, it’s thoroughly enjoyable in its simplicity. Whilst it doesn’t have a lot of the features that later games have, it is LEGO at it purest and most enjoyable.


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Legends of Tomorrow ‘Return of The Mack’ Review



Originally published on Set The Tape

Victorian vampires, Jax with amnesia, the resurrection of Damien Darhk, the return of Rip Hunter, and the first appearance of Mallus. The latest episode of Legends of Tomorrow crams so much into its run time that we’re left absolutely spoilt.

Events kick off this week in Victorian London, where Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvil) is on the trail of an anachronism but ends up stumbling across a dead bodies that appears to have fallen victim to a vampire. Luckily, back on the Waverider, the team has seen that this anachronism is similar to the one that led them to Zari (Tala Ashe) and decide to go investigate, much to the joy of Mick (Dominic Purcell), who reveals that he’s always wanted to kill a vampire as he pulls out a carefully crafted stake that he’s apparently been carrying for years.

With the team and Rip back together, things start to feel a little bit more like the first season of the show, which is never a bad thing. Unfortunately, Rip proves to be less than trustworthy throughout the episode, leading on a particularly sad ending as the character is dragged off by the Time Bureau. It’s unfortunate that Rip won’t be coming back onto the team, but as Sara (Caity Lotz) points out, he’s betrayed every group he’s worked with, and he simply can;t be a part of the Legends anymore. I do like the shift in dynamic that’s been going on since season two, where Sara has been firmly placed as the captain of the ship and the leader of the team, something that will never again be in doubt after this episode.

Whilst the episode begins as a fun vampire hunt through Victorian London, the comedy takes a back seat for the latter half of the episode as it becomes apparent that this isn’t just an adventure of the week romp, but an integral part of the season arc. Whilst I do love the humour of the stand alone episodes, like the previous ‘Phone Home’, it’s great when the show combines that fun humour with the drama that makes up their big stories. Having been promised vampires, the team is more than a little disappointed to discover that there is no vampire, just a time displaced dead body that a cult is trying to bring back to life. Unfortunately for everyone, this body is none other than Damien Darhk, from after his season three appearance and death on Arrow.


I was initially a little skeptical that we needed more Darhk in the show, but thanks to how brilliantly the episode plays his resurrection scene and the massacre that follows I’m actually looking forward to seeing more from him, especially with this weeks guest star Courtney Ford. I won’t say who she’s playing as the episode doesn’t, but it’s going to be interesting when Darhk finds out who she is. We also get some more information on Mallus this week, with some quite frightening hints that he may be some kind of demonic godlike entity, and get to hear the seasons big bad when he speaks through Ford’s character, voiced brilliantly by John Noble. This certainly sets the stage for an interesting, and potentially frightening season to come.

This week also managed to add more preparation to the upcoming departure of Professor Stein (Victor Garber), as Jax (Franz Drameh) and Ray (Brandon Routh) try to sever the psychic bond between Jax and Stein, which results in some amusement when Jax suffers from short term memory loss. Whilst they did attempt this in secret, Stein discovers their plan, and doesn’t exactly disapprove of it either. The separation of the Firestorm matrix, and making the hero into a single entity is sure to be a complex task, one which will surely have an amusing journey over the rest of the season.

Thanks to a tonal shift half way through, this episode manages to blend ridiculous humour and dramatic developments as it introduces the seasons main antagonist, and returns one of its stand out villains to the series. With the episode raising more mystery than it solves, the rest of the season is sure to be an interesting journey across time.


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Thursday 23 November 2017

Teacher Loses Job For Being Gay



A teacher in Western Australia, Craig Campbell, has lost his job as a substitute teacher after he came out as gay to his colleagues at South Coast Baptist College in Perth.

Campbell, who had been working at the school for three years, went to the college as a student, and attended their church, chose to come out at his workplace following a family wedding that he attended with his partner, which was also attended by a number of the school's students.

'It got to the point where I was like, 'I can't hide this anymore',' he spoke out to the press, describing his decision to come out. Campbell, who was openly gay in his personal and family life, chose to inform his head of department about his sexuality. 'I told them I was in a relationship, and obviously this is something that I believe is fine from both a moral and theological standpoint.'

Following this meeting with his head of department, Campbell was removed from the list of relief teachers, effectively firing him from his position at the school.


The college principal, Des Mitchell, who can be seen on the college website next to the school's motto 'Rigorous Minds, Compassionate Hearts', confirmed on television to 7 News Perth that Campbell had lost his job because of his sexuality.

'At present, for us, we choose not to employ someone who is openly gay.' He told reporters. 'There is an inconsistency with his beliefs on sexuality and the college's beliefs.'

Campbell went on to say that he was not out during his time at the college as a student, but recognised that some of his students were struggling in the same issues of being gay in an intolerant environment.

'I could see that there were a number of kids who were struggling with it as well. And I'm sure their experience is just like it was for me,' he said.

Unfortunately, the school will not be facing any legal action for homophobic discrimination as LGBT+ employees at private or religious schools can be fired for no reason under the law.


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Looking Back At Star Wars Battlefront



Originally published on Set The Tape

Star Wars Battlefront is an amazing shooter experience, one that not only captures the look and feel of the original Star Wars trilogy perfectly, but uses this setting to give players some truly unique feeling gameplay moments.

The game embraces its franchise setting to a degree that I haven’t seen in many Star Wars video games. Where a great deal of Star Wars video games will use the basic style and trappings of the universe to make the game look like Star Wars, Star Wars Battlefront goes into such great detail that it doesn’t look like Star Wars, but feels like Star Wars. And that’s a big difference.

The game goes out of its way to make character, weapon, and location design feel like it’s jumped straight out of the films. It includes the roughness around the edges, the scuffs on weapons and armour, the scorch marks on the bodies of the X-Wing fighters; it goes into that level of detail that most games in the franchise simply lack.

Star Wars Battlefront even goes as far as including original film music and sound effects that are so accurate I wouldn’t be surprised if they were lifted from the original films rather than recreated. Whilst other games do feature such details, like the iconic sounds of the TIE FIghters, here it just feels more real, that more attention has been given to these little pieces.

The result of all of this attention and love of the source material means that Star Wars Battlefront is one of the most engaging Star Wars experiences, one where you actually feel like you’re part of the Galactic Empire, or fighting for the freedom of the galaxy as a hero of the Rebel Alliance.

Star Wars Battlefront may be missing a single player mode (more on that later) but it has so many multi-player game types that it feels more varied than other online shooters. Whilst some of these modes are very recognisable to other games, there are a few stand out modes that can either only be done by Star Wars, or at least benefit hugely from the franchise.

Walker Assault is probably the best example of this, where the Empire team is taking part in an attack upon a Rebel base, escorting their gigantic AT-AT Walkers across a huge battlefield whilst the Rebels try desperately to destroy the walking behemoths. Whilst the odds of winning as the Rebels relies heavily on having a very, very good team behind you it is easily one of the most tense and frantic game modes, as the Rebels try desperately to call in fighter strikes to take out the AT-AT’s.

The game also incorporates many of the iconic characters of the franchise, allowing players to take advantage of character pick-ups in order to play as heroes and villains of the Star Wars trilogy such as Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and Boba Fett.

Whilst these moments don’t last long you do feel incredibly powerful when you are able to transform into these characters, whether it’s running around with a lightsabre, flying around the battle with a jetpack, or killing enemies with Force Lightning, being these characters are a match highlight. The system is even employed in the air combat modes, where character pick-ups allow you to pilot the Millennium Falcon or Slave one for a brief time.

For all that is to be praised about the game, it’s not perfect. There are a number of smaller issues that let the game down, including the difficulty level of certain game modes, such as winning as the Rebellion on Walker Assault. However, the biggest flaw of the game is the lack of a single player element.

Many games understand that a lot of players are interested in playing online with others, and that for some gamers this overrides the desire to play a single player game, but Star Wars Battlefront has focused on this aspect of the game to the extreme, completely dropping the single player experience.

This leads to a game that, for me at least, doesn’t quite feel like a complete games, that there’s something incredibly important missing from the experience. Thankfully, this is something that has been rectified for the sequel; which will hopefully mean a vast improvement.

Star Wars Battlefront is a very competent and well crafted game, with hundreds of hours of gameplay available if you enjoy playing online with others. Perhaps not to everyone’s liking, but still one of the best made Star Wars games in years.


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Wednesday 22 November 2017

Why Do People Care More About Animals Than Transgender People?



It has been revealed this week the members of parliament in the UK have voted to reject inclusion of animal sentience into the European Union Withdrawal Bill. This vote essentially means that the UK does not recognise that animals have emotions or feel pain.

This decision has rightly been condemned by media outlets, celebrities, and the general public as people call out the decision as being cruel, ignorant, and downright false. Whilst I completely agree with those sentiments, and feel that it is absolutely abhorrent that the British government would make such a ruling, one of the things that has surprised me most is the level of outrage that this has received.

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to social media to condemn this, newspapers have reported on it, television and radio have discussed this, and in near all of these cases people have condemned animals losing this fundamental protection. What truly upsets me, however, is how more people are outraged by this than the hate that befalls the transgender community.

In the week leading up to the animal sentience vote, the same week as the Trans Day of Remembrance which recognised the members of the transgender community that have died or been killed in 2017, British media published an anti-trans article every single day, with such publications as The Daily Mail and The Sun stirring up hate towards the trans community.

Whilst this was an increase on the normal amount of anti-trans sentiment, this was only the latest salvo in the war against the trans community. This year we have seen ourselves attacked in the media, mocked on television, attempts made to ban us from the US military, been portrayed as sexual predators.

The push back against giving transgender people equal rights with the cisgender community, to be recognised as regular human beings hasn't been met with the same level of outrage or condemnation that the animal sentience vote has received.

You don't need to look far on social media to see regular, everyday people clamouring for animals to be recognised as sentient, and condemn those who don't feel the same, calling people inhuman or in some cases monsters for supporting the vote. In contrast, when people turn around to those with anti-trans sentiments and call them out on the issue are often told that these people are entitled to their opinion.

Transphobe and TERF (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist) are terms that we are told by those with anti-trans sentiments are rude or abusive. We are told that our desire for equality is forcing our opinions on others.

Why are people who feel that animals shouldn't be recognised as sentient seen as horrible people, yet those who deny trans people their identities and their rights simply voicing an opinion?

The answer appears to be, the public see transgender people as less than animals.

I have been discriminated against in my job, I've been sworn at in the street, laughed at, mocked, called a freak, had people tell me I'm delusional, that I'm a man, I've been spat on, threatened with physical attacks, rape, and murder. I've not seen a single person come to my defence in these situations, I've been told to shrug it off or ignore it. If people had abused animals in such a way in public they would instantly have been called out on it.

I know that this article seems to be nothing but a rant and a moan, that there's nothing that will change from this, but the constant media assault, the constant fight to be seen as a human being is just so tiring and so demoralising.

Being trans isn't easy, trans people are under constant attack, we're being told that our identities aren't valid, that we're delusional or mentally ill, we're made out to be criminals, rapists and child molesters in order to push political agendas; and any time we speak out against this we're demonised for wanting to be seen as human.

Animal rights are important, they matter, but if you feel that trans people are worth less than animals, perhaps you should think a bit more about your stance on the matter.


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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #76 - Comic Review



Originally Published on Set The Tape

With the last issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles nicely wrapping up the Trial of Krang story, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters 2 mini-series covering what happens to the Trutles on their way back from Dimension X, one of the last remaining plot threads hanging over is that of the Triceraton and their return to Earth.

This story reminded me of Doctor Who, and the stories involving the Silurians. Much like them, the Triceraton are evolved from triceratops’, and have returned to a world that was once theirs and is now the domain of humanity. I was expecting this story to follow a similar path, with the Triceraton and humans both unwilling to share the planet with the other faction.

Because of these preconceptions I was pleasantly surprised when the warlike Triceraton turned out to be the peaceful faction, approaching humanity with caution, but also friendship. Unfortunately, thanks to the Earth Protection Force and Agent Bishop, a peaceful first encounter between the two races turns into a vicious conflict that soon turns into a fullscale war in downtown New York, one the media report as a terrorist attack.

The issue focuses on this first meeting, and the Triceraton leader Commander Zom rather than the Turtles, who only appear briefly as they return from their crossover with the Ghostbusters. The time spent with Zom and her companions means that by the time Bishop turns on them and the battle starts the reader has come to care for the Triceraton, rather than them just being a group of faceless combattants.

This is most evident in the moment when Sergeant Gord sacrifices himself to save his commander. Despite having only known the character for just one issue his death comes as a saddening shock. Perhaps it’s also partially down to the face that we learn the painful backstory of the Triceraton this issue, that they were used as slaves for thousands of generations and simply want a home to live their lives in peace, but seeing them met with open hostility and being called monsters is a lot more shocking and painful than you’d expect.

The issue also manages to pack in the action, with the clash with the Earth Protection Forces incorporating gunfights, helicopters, and even jet packs to give a good variety. With this being only the first part of both this particular storyline, and the fight between Earth and the Triceraton, the skirmish is short lived, but will surely expand over the coming issues.

Whilst this issue does lack the titular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in any particularly important content, it does spend it’s time making a very strong foundation for the story to come, and clearly defines some of the main players and the stakes that are on the line. A strong start to what is sure to be an interesting an engaging story line.


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Canada Elects First Transgender Mayor



Julie Lemieux has become the first openly transgender person to be elected to the office of mayor in the Canadian town of Tres-Saint-Redempteur in Montreal.

Lemieux served on the towns municipality council for four years before running for mayor, and is also the towns first female mayor in its 137 year history.

She told the press that she was proud to be both the first transgender person to hold the position in the town, but also the first woman. She also stated that she believed her win 'wasn't the start of a movement, but the result of years of work by many to build tolerance in our communities across the country.'

She went on to say that her win shows that 'people from rural areas are open-minded and shouldn't be seen as out-of-touch just because they don't live in cities'.

According to a report made by CBC, those who voted for Lemieux did so not because she is transgender, but because they wanted positive change in their community.

One of her supporters said, 'I think this opens the door to anyone who feels different in society. It doesn't matter who you are - if you want to do something then you should do it.'


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My Little Pony: Legends of Magic #8 - Comic Review



Originally published on Set The Tape

The eighth issue of My Little Pony: Legends of Magic continues on where the previous issue left off, with the as yet unnamed young pony leaving his home town to recruit together the greatest heroes in all the land in order to defeat the evil that has enslaved his friends and family. This issue manages to not only recruit the first member of the team, but adds extra mystery by setting up the next issues adventure too.

With the unnamed pony (I’m still betting it’s a young Starswirl) trapped down a hole, he finds himself being rescued by the very Pony that he’s come to recruit, Rockhoof. With his companion shovel and the ability to dig deeper and faster than any other pony alive, Rockhoof is a very physically impressive character, and ends up dominating the pages that he’s on.

Despite his imposing physical appearance, Rockhoof shows that he’s a very humble pony, refusing to be called a hero and describing himself as simply part of a larger group, the Mighty Helm. All very good qualities for a hero really. Although the young pony pleas with Rockhoof to join him, it’s only through showing his own injinuity and helping Rockhoof and the Mighty Helm to save their own village that Rockhoof finally agrees to go along with him.

The first issue of this story set up the young pony to be a bit of a nothing character, someone who needs the help of these legendary heroes in order to save his town, but this issue appears to be sowing the idea that he’s a lot more competent that he thinks, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go on to help each of the ponies that he’s trying to recruit in a similar way. This issue even sets him up to be able to do that when he and Rockhoof travel to a swamp to recruit Mage Meadowbrook, where all of the herbivores in the swamp are being effected by some plant that is turning them into vicious predators, leading to an army of animals descending upon our heroes (complete with flaming torches).

It was a genuine surprise to see Mage Meadowbrook in this issue, as I’d expected that we would have one issue to recruit each of the ponies into the team. With the comic playing with expectations, and throwing in mysteries and adventures that need to be overcome in order to get the legendary heroes to join the team, there’s sure to be more twists and surprises before the story is through.

With artwork that is bright and colourful, and clearly depicting each of the legendary heroes, the book continues to build upon the history of the My Little Pony universe in fun and exciting ways.


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The Flash ‘Girls Night Out’ Review



Originally published on Set The Tape

The Flash continues its race towards the much anticipated wedding of Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and Iris West (Candice Patton) as the boys and girls of the show go out for their stag/hen nights respectively (bachelor and bachelorette for our american readers), which nicely splits the two groups into their own tidy narratives which makes it good for discussion and review.

The boys, initially hanging out round Joes (Jesse L. Martin) house watching some old movies of Barry and drinking brandy before they head out for a fancy steak dinner. Thankfully, Ralph Dibney (Hartley Sawyer) turns up and points out to Cisco (Carlos Valdes) that his party is as boring as you’d expect with that plan, and drags the group to one of his favourite hangouts, a strip club. The events at the strip club are there simply to keep the male cast members in the show, and to give us something to laugh at, as things go from one extreme moment to the next. Having concocted a batch of super alcohol so that Barry can get drunk, Cisco may have miscalculated as Barry ends up very, very drunk.

Thankfully drunk Barry is amazing, screaming around the club that he’s the Flash, getting covered in sauce and crying about how much he loves chicken wings, and asking Joe why Rose couldn’t move over to let Jack up on the door. His best moment has to be when he makes a weird judder and claims to have gone to the bar for peanuts without appearing to have moved. Whilst this may simply be Barry messing around, the idea of his drunkenly speeding around the room was genuinely amusing. As to be expected, things go mad (mainly thanks to Ralph), and the group end up in a huge bar fight and get arrested, only being bailed out towards the end of the episode by Harry (Tom Cavanagh).


Ralph is proving to be a great addition to the cast, fitting in nicely to the role of an antagonistic dick that seems to mainly be there to annoy Cisco, a role that used to belong to Harry back in the day before their friendship. Harry is also very good this episode, quietly stealing all of his scenes with his very ‘I just don’t give a shit’ attitude. More of this please. The main focus of the episode, however, is as the name suggests, the women. Iris is joined on her night out by Cecile (Danielle Nicolet), Caitlyn (Danielle Panabaker), and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) who has come to town especially to celebrate.

Unfortunately for the group, their night out is quickly derailed when a metahuman thug shows up, bringing our Caitlyns dark side, turning her back into Killer Frost. After teasing for a number of episodes, we then get to meet Amunet Black (Katee Sackhoff), one of the new ongoing villains for the fourth season. Whilst her British accent is a little ridiculous, and goes all over the place at times, it’s obvious that Sackhoff is having an absolute joy playing the part, and is intentionally hamming things up. Whilst this doesn’t always work, her scenery chewing is perfect, and reminds me a lot of Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller) in the way that it’s so silly, yet fits well.

Whilst we don’t get much of a look at her powers in this episode, or at least the full extant of how dangerous they are if Killer Frost’s fear of them is to be believed, but with her being a returning antagonist, hopefully we will get to see more of this as the season progresses. We also get some progression on the Caitlyn/Killer Frost front this episode, as the rest of the team learn that Frost isn’t quite gone, but isn’t necessarily the killer villain that they’ve suspected. I’m sure that this is another story that will progress throughout the season, possibly connected to Amunet’s.

‘Girls Night Out’ manages to pack in some great story and character progression, introduce a new villain, and deliver some great comedic moments without feeling boring or drawn out. Having followed on from the brilliant ‘Eloingated Journey Into The Night’, it looks like this season of The Flash has found its groove.


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Transgender Model Talulah-Eve Brown Threatened With Acid Attack



Model Talulah-Eve Brown, a former contestant on Britain's Next Top Model, has revealed that she was threatened with an acid attack and transphobic hate speech on the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Taking to Twitter to share her experience, she wrote, 'I'm never one to go on and on about the trolling I receive but when people threaten me with an 'acid attack' it's just hard to fathom what goes on in people's minds in order to say sickening things like that.'


A source close to Talulah-Eve told the newspaper The Sun that 'People can be so hateful and be quite ugly. She's used to being yelled at in the streets, even before she became famous. This acid threat has definitely knocked her for six. We've all seen how it's become something of a trend.'


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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters 2 #3 – Comic Review



Originally published on Set The Tape

‘The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are on the run. The ghost of Darius Dun, a crime boss whose assassination was ordered by Splinter, has summoned a group of demons – The Collectors – to abduct the Turtles, all in an attempt to hurt Splinter. Luckily, Donatello reached the Ghostbusters for help before the dimension-hopping demons caught up with him.

‘To confuse the trail, the boys in gray split up with the mutant heroes and went on random runs through the infinite dimensions. They take a quick pause to allow their portal technology to recharge, finding themselves in vastly different surroundings!

‘Peter Venkman and Michelangelo appear in Zoo Amsterdam, a city of anthropomorphic animals, where Peter was mistaken for a demon by that dimensions paranormal investigators – the Ghostbusturtles! Ray Stanz and Raphael found themselves in a frozen forest, ambushed by Scandinavian specters! Winston Zeddmore and Leonardo wind up on a world of pure war, narrowly defying death at the hands of an unfeeling army of androids!

‘Back in the Ghostbusters’ home dimension, Ego Spengler and Donatello work on a trap that will send the Collectors directly to the containment unit, a prison they can’t escape from… if the two teams can manage to trap them in the first place. Donatello has an idea about how to make that happen…’

The third issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters 2 continues the story of our two heroic teams working together across the mutli-verse to stop supernatural forces, whilst managing to pack a lot of fun and action into its pages.

Following on from the surprise little reveal in the previous issue that Venkman and Michelangello had discovered a group of turtle Ghostbusters in a reality full of animal people, Venkman gets captured by these Ghostbusters, who are named Harold, Dan, Ernie, and Bill after the original Ghostbuster actors (a very nice touch). This leads Michelangelo alone to rescue him. This is a great set up, because it reminds the audience, and Venkman, that behind Michelangelo’s humour and loudmouthed joking, he;s a ninja. He can track people, he can sneak into places, he can jump out of the shadows and surprise you. It’s also a good counterpoint to their story from the last issue, where Michelangelo has the emotional beats and didn’t get the chance to shine as an action hero.

Over in the snowy wilderness of the dimension that Ray and Raphael found themselves in, it appears that the two heroes have found themselves thrown out of their bodies and reduced to ineffectual spirits whilst their bodies have been taken over by Viking ghosts, who are using them to fight each other. Whilst this is great for Ray, who is absolutely loving that he gets to experience something like this and finds the whole thing fascinating, it’s the worst thing in the world for Raph.

Raphael is desperate to be able to take action. He cares about the things that he believes in so much that he’s always the first in line to put himself in harms way, is always the first to take action; so to be unable to interact with or touch anything at all is the worst kind of punishment for him. It’s a great decision to make him the member of the Turltes in this position, as it really challenges him in a way that we don’t always get to see.

Unfortunately, with the issue ending with him and Ray stuck in Ray’s body together things don’t seem to be resolved for the character, and I can see the next issue pushing him to realise that he will need to put aside his lone wolf style brashness and learn to work with Ray in a way that he hasn’t with anyone else in the past. It’s also looking like it will be allowing the creative team to further explore his emotional state and his motivations as Ray has already picked up on some of his inner thoughts and emotions, commenting that even when with his family he feels incredibly lonely. I very much look forward to seeing how this will resolve with the two of them.

Over in the Terminator apocalypse, Leonardo and Winston get a surprise appearance from a group of toad mutants, who manage to steal their dimensional travel device, forcing the two of them to fight to get it back. It;s fun to see Winston and Leo work together this way, the two most straight-laced members of their respective teams, Leonardo with his strict sense of training and discipline, and Winston with his military background.

Instead of dragging the action out it ends fairly quickly, in part because the book doesn’t have the room to have a full scale fight, but also to showcase how good the two of them are compared to their opponents, they don;t need long to beat them even if they are outnumbered. Back in the Ghostbusters home reality Donatello and Ego continue their work towards a way of trapping The Collectors, ans making an arsenal of proton powered ninja weapons. We get to see Donatello going one on one with a giant ghost armed only with a glowing staff, and the result is as great as you’d think.

The inclusion of proton powered weapons for the Turtles is a genius idea, and one that I’m eagerly awaiting the team to be able to use at some point. Whilst most team-ups mean that characters are able to come together to fight an enemy using their own individual skills, the Turtles fighting ghosts would never work without them being given proton packs, which takes a little something away from what they can bring to the table as ninjas. Giving them these weapons means that the two teams can work together whilst still being who they are, the Trutles can actually fight ghosts the same way that they can their other foes, and that’s a great concept. Hopefully it won’t be too much longer before we get to see both teams in action together.

What this scene also gives us, however, is a chance for the two members of each team who spent some time dead since their last team-up, a chance to talk through their experiences. It’s a unique experience that neither one can really discuss with their respective teams in the same way they can with each other. Here they have someone to talk to who has gone through something similar, who knows the kind of trauma and mental toil that they have experienced. It’s a great scene that gives a good look into the minds of both of these characters, espescially Egon, who very rarely opens up about his feelings.

The story is definitely heating up in this issue, driving towards the inevitable conclusion against The Collectors with both teams coming back together. Thankfully, the book is able to deliver both action and character development as it works to keep its players separate for now. It’s a story that could easily fall flat if in the hands of a less competent creative team, thankfully here it’s being done in such a way that it’s a genuine pleasure to read.


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Tuesday 21 November 2017

CW Release Full Trailer For Crisis On Earth-X Crossover Event



The CW and Warner Bros have released the first full trailer for the upcoming crossover event between The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl, titled 'Crisis on Earth-X'.

When all of our heroes gather to celebrate the wedding between Barry Allen (The Flash) and Iris West, including Supergirl from Earth-19, Nazi's from a 53rd parallel earth, Earth-X, arrive to ruin proceedings, along with evil versions of some of our iconic heroes.


'Crisis on Earth-X' stars Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash, Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers/Supergirl, Caity Lotz as Sara Lance/White Canary, Danielle Panabaker as Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost, Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak, Dominic Purcell as Mick Rory/Heatwave, Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon/Vibe, Wentworth Miller as Citizen Cold, Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer/The Atom, Maise Richarson-Sellers as Amaya Jiwe/Vixen, David Ramsey as John Diggle/Spartan, Rick Gonzales as Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog, Echo Kellum as Curtis Holt/Mr Terriffic, Juliana Harkavy as Dinah Drake/Black Canary, Nick Zano as Nate Heywood/Steel, and Russel Tovey as The Ray.

The crossover event airs on 27th November.


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Labour MP Caroline Flint Wants To Protect Women's Spaces From Trans Women Who 'Look And Sound Like Men'



Caroline Flint, Labour MP for Don Valley, has spoken out against the transgender community on the Transgender Day of Remembrance in an interview with Evening Standard.

In an interview that begins with Ms Flint discussing being sexually assaulted on the London Underground, before she moves on to discuss transgender rights, and her fears that 'women are getting left behind in the trans debate'.

Ms Flint voiced her concerns that allowing transgender people to access women only spaces could endanger women and girls, 'Young women have told me that they have been in gender-neutral toilets and men have come in, not trans men or women but men, and been abusive and intimidating. These are everyday things, like Topshop making its changing rooms gender-neutral.' She said.

'With the best will in the world, in a changing room there are young girls wandering around in bras because it's seen as safe. Having men in there would change that. I don't know why debate around this has become adversarial. We need to think through how to support those from the trans community but not in such a way that compromises women's and girl's rights.'

Ms Flint then went on to say that she feels that transgender women should be excluded from domestic violence shelters, 'It's important that women feel safe there. It's difficult to judge if someone says they define themselves as a trans woman but for all intents and purposes look and sound like a man.'

The article continues on to include Ms Flint's fears that trans people are trying to impose transgenderism on children when they choose to dress in a way that doesn't match their assigned gender.

She states that she feels 'that a wider group of voices wasn't heard on the women and equalities committee.' The inquiry that she referrs to published a report in 2016 that called the government to make improvements to the Gender Recognition Act, chiefly to reduce the number of hurdles that trans people are required to go through in order to legally change gender.

Despite claiming that she 'absolutely supports trans rights' this is not the first time that she has spoken out against the trans community, having previously intervened in a debate in parliament claiming that gender-neutral toilets put cisgender women at risk of sexual assault.

At the time she cited evidence that cisgender women would be put at risk in gender-neutral toilets from a case where a student at the University of East Anglia placed cameras in gender-neutral toilet. After it was pointed out to Ms Lucas that the case in question was a cisgender man placing cameras in a female only toilet facility she still refused to retract her comments, even going on to complain about gender-neutral facilities because men 'urinate in the sink'.


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